Know your lifts and your numbers.

Ironstead comes with more than 300 exercises out of the box, each tagged by the muscle group it targets and the equipment it needs. That means you can filter down to, say, barbell back exercises, or everything that hits your shoulders, without scrolling forever.

The tags are there to help you find and organize movements. Which exercises you use is always your choice or your coach's.

Everything in the library is searchable, so if you know the name of a movement you can jump straight to it. And because every exercise carries the same tags, the one you pick slots neatly into your history and records next to everything else you have done.

Cardio has its own filter chip, sitting after the muscle-group chips in the exercise library. Turning it on clears the muscle filter; turning it off brings the muscle groups back. Under All and under any single muscle group, cardio stays hidden, so browsing chest work never hands you a rowing machine.

Search reaches past that. With All selected, typing a name gets you the match whether it is cardio or not, in English or in German: Laufband finds the Treadmill Run, Rudergerät finds Rowing (Erg), Seilspringen finds Jump Rope. A muscle chip keeps filtering while it is on, so search from All when you are after cardio by name.

Fourteen cardio movements ship with the app: Treadmill Run, Outdoor Run, Cycling, Stationary Bike, Rowing (Erg), Assault Bike, Ski Erg, Stair Climber, Elliptical, Swimming, Walking, Hiking, Jump Rope and Battle Ropes. Each tracks what its equipment actually reports, so the treadmill carries an incline field, the bikes and ergs carry a resistance level, and a jump rope keeps to time and calories.

To add your own, create an exercise and pick the Cardio quick preset. It switches on duration, distance and calories and files the movement as cardio, which is what puts it behind the Cardio chip with the built-in ones. Turn on incline or level by hand if your machine has them.

If a movement you do is not in the library, add it. Custom exercises behave just like the built-in ones: you tag them, track them, and they show up in your history and records like anything else.

A coach can attach a how-to video to an exercise so their athletes can see the movement done right. Those videos are YouTube links added by the coach, so the demonstration lives alongside the exercise where you need it.

Once a custom exercise exists, it's a first-class part of your library. It filters by its tags, keeps its own records and charts, and can go into any template or block just like a built-in movement. Nothing about it is second-class.

1. 1
   Open the libraryGo to Exercises and choose to add a new one.
2. 2
   Name and tag itGive it a clear name and tag the muscle group and equipment so filters find it later.
3. 3
   Start using itAdd it to a workout or template. It now tracks like any built-in exercise.

Tap any exercise to open its detail view, organized into tabs. Each tab answers a different question, so you go straight to what you need.

About covers what the exercise is and any coach video. History lists every time you have trained it. Charts turns that history into a line you can actually read, so a slow climb over months becomes visible. Records shows your best results.

For a cardio exercise the same tabs answer cardio questions. History gives one row per session, summarizing the best set of that day as duration, distance and calories instead of weight by reps. About totals the sessions, distance and time you have logged, plus calories where the exercise tracks them. Charts plot distance, duration and pace, and calories on top when they are tracked; a chart with nothing behind it says so rather than disappearing.

Records follow what the exercise actually tracks. A treadmill run collects all four cardio bests: longest distance, longest duration, best pace and highest calories. A jump rope logs no distance, so it keeps the duration and calorie bests and drops the other two.

You don't need to visit every tab every time. Most days you might glance at Records before a heavy set, or open Charts once a month to check the trend.

Your 1RM is the heaviest weight you could lift for a single rep on an exercise. It is a handy single number for gauging strength and for planning, since many programs describe loads as a %1RM, a percentage of that max.

Ironstead knows your max in three ways. An estimated 1RM is calculated from a hard set you actually did, using a standard formula, so you get a number without ever having to test a true single. Your heaviest weight record tracks the most weight you have actually moved in a working set on that lift. A manual 1RM is one you enter yourself, for instance a max you hit before you started using the app.

All three feed your records so your planning has a number to work from. The estimate updates itself as you train heavier, which is why you rarely need to grind out an actual single just to know where you stand.

Sometimes you already know your max and there is nothing for the app to estimate from. You tested a true single, you hit a number at a meet, you are bringing history across from another app, or you are starting a lift in Ironstead that you have trained for years somewhere else. In all of those cases you can enter the one-rep max yourself instead of waiting for one to be worked out.

You do it on the Records tab of any exercise. The Manual 1RM card asks for two things: the weight, and the date you achieved it. Save it and the number is yours. Remove it later and the app goes back to what your tracked history says. There is one manual 1RM per exercise, so entering a new one replaces the old.

A coach can do the same for an athlete, on any exercise, from the athlete's Top analytics view. That matters most for a lift the athlete has never tracked in Ironstead. A percent-based load needs a max to resolve against, and until one exists the Blockbuilder flags the cell as needing a max. Entering the number the athlete already knows gets the plan moving without asking them to test a single first.

1. 1
   Open the exerciseGo to Exercises, pick the lift, and switch to the Records tab.
2. 2
   Fill in the Manual 1RM cardEnter the one-rep max and the date you achieved it, then save.
3. 3
   Put it to workThe number feeds your records and any percent-based load that references this lift.

As you train, Ironstead keeps your personal records current on every lift, so a new best is recognized without you doing the bookkeeping. Over time your records become a quiet history of getting stronger.

Curious what a hard set implies about your max before you open the app? The free 1RM calculator on this site estimates a one-rep max from any weight and rep count, using the same kind of formula the app uses. It is a quick way to see the idea in action.

There's nothing to switch on. As long as you're logging your sets, your records keep themselves up to date in the background, and your estimated max moves with you as you get stronger.

Common questions

Do I have to test a true 1RM?

No. Ironstead estimates your one-rep max from hard sets you already do, so you get a working number without maxing out. It also records the heaviest weight you have actually moved, and you can enter a max manually if you want to.

Can I add an exercise that is not in the library?

Yes. Create a custom exercise, tag it, and it tracks exactly like the built-in ones, showing up in your history, records and charts.

Why is running missing from the exercise list?

It is behind the Cardio chip. Cardio stays hidden under All and under the muscle groups so the strength lists stay clean. Tap Cardio, or just search for the name, which finds it either way.

Where do the how-to videos come from?

A coach attaches them. They are YouTube links added to an exercise so athletes can see the movement demonstrated. They are not auto-generated by the app.

Can my coach set my 1RM for me?

Yes. A coach can enter a one-rep max for any exercise from your Top analytics view. It's useful when a plan prescribes percent-based loads on a lift you have not tracked in Ironstead yet, since those loads need a max to resolve against.